Praying For Daylight
by xjrose
Summary: Psychologist Anna Williams suffers from nightmares of a murder. But are they really just nightmares or is there something more?
1. Chapter 1

There was banging at the door. "This is the police!" Splinters from the door came flying in my direction. I was terrified and confused. "We have a warrant." The next thing I knew, I was in handcuffs on my front porch.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We're searching your house."

"For what?"

"You will be told by another officer." But I wasn't told until I was inside of the patrol car.

I could hear my house being torn apart. Tears filled and overflowed from my blue eyes. I knew that I had done nothing wrong. I could feel my face turning as red as my lips the harder I cried. Panic filled my lungs and I gasped for breath.

"Anna Williams, you're under arrest for the murder of Eric Jones."

But the sirens didn't stop. It was the sound of my alarm clock manifesting itself into my nightmare. I awoke, my heart pounding out of my chest and my mouth was dry as though I'd been screaming. My face was pale and my body was drenched in sweat. I got up to take a shower before work.

The water was calming and warm against my body. But no matter how hard I scrubbed, I couldn't wash away my nightmare. I knew I'd never killed anyone, yet it was me in my dream and it was my name that the officer called. I couldn't understand it. At the same time, I knew I was over-analyzing. Maybe it just meant that I an sorry for the way that my sister has been running her life. Or perhaps somewhere in the dark depths of my mind I longed to see her suffer in life like I had in the dream. I decided to stop thinking about it, hoping I would forget or that the answer would come to me in time.

I walked into the office with a confident air, hoping everyone would ignore the bags beneath my eyes. "Good morning, Doctor Williams. Here is your schedule for today." I scanned my schedule as I walked to the filing cabinet. "Oh, Doctor?" My secretary poked her head into the room. "Your first client is here early, just thought I would let you know." I smiled and thanked her and continued going over the case files.

"I just don't know what to do, Doctor, he's even started smoking again." The distressed girl sitting across from me was looking for answers in a relationship that seemed very one-sided.

"Well, Julia, there's a technique called rapid smoking, which is where you inhale every six seconds. It's supposed to make smoking unappealing. But he has to be willing to quit; you can't force it." I tried to give her an encouraging smile. "But it seems to me that Hwoarang doesn't respect you. I can't tell you what to do, you need to come to your own decision."

"Yes," Julia stood up triumphantly, "you're right. And I think I need to break up with him." She wore a grin on her countenance and her hands rested on her hips. Then, suddenly, the grin faded and her hands dropped as she collapsed back down into the chair with a groan. "Doctor Williams, I don't know what to say to him." Now her face was filled with fear and anxiety.

"Hwoarang, this isn't working and you need to leave?" I suggested.

"But then he'll ask why and I don't think I can tell him why. I'm just not strong enough when it comes to this sort of thing."

"Julia, you're a strong girl. I know; I've seen it. And you may not see it right now but that girl is in you somewhere just begging to beat him to a pulp. I'm not suggesting physical violence, I just think he needs that firm hand to set him straight. You deserve better and if he won't give you that, then he's not worth having around."

Julia smiled. Her wristwatch beeped and she started heading for the door. "Thank you. I'll see you next week, Doctor Williams."

"Take care, Julia." I jotted down some more notes into her case file and returned it to the cabinet.

My mind kept drifting back to the nightmare. I knew it was going to be a long day.


	2. Chapter 2

"Eric, good to see you," I smiled and embraced him in a hug. He was cute: pale skin, dark eyes, dark hair. I ran my red nails along his neck playfully. He seemed to be enjoying it. I dug in deep and moved swiftly. Crimson drops fell like rain and I played and danced in it. The gentle beat of his heart began to slow and fade until it could no longer be heard. But by that time it was already in my hand. Eric's eyes were frozen open in terror of death, especially by the hand of beautiful woman. I began to hear sirens again. I laughed into the night air and fled from the scene.

I gasped for breath, once again waking up in a cold sweat. I turned off my alarm and rose from my bed. I clutched my chest in attempt to keep my heart inside. I looked down at my well manicured hands. No fake tips, no razor blades. I couldn't shake the sight of blood, the terror in his eyes, and I could still feel his still beating heart in my palm.

I walked into the office, trying to hide the tears in my eyes. My secretary pretended not to notice but I knew she was worried. She handed me my daily schedule as always and I headed for the file cabinet to retrieve the files of today's patients.

"So, you're originally from Hong Kong, what brings you to the states, Lei?"

"I needed a vacation from work. I needed time to sort myself out." Lei looked as though he wasn't exactly sure what he was doing here either but something seemed to have drawn him here, drawn him to me.

"So did you quit your job then, or is it just temporary leave?"

"Being a police officer will always be open to me in Hong Kong, whenever I am ready to return."

I gave him an encouraging smile. "So what exactly is it that you need to figure out?"

"I've been so caught up in fighting crime that I've kind of forgotten myself along the way. I need something else to live for, work shouldn't be everything." I knew exactly what he meant. I hadn't had much of a social life myself lately.

"I can't do much for you as a psychologist, but I can help as a friend. I know exactly what you're feeling and I could use a little social interaction between friends as well. What do you say we get together for a drink tonight? No romance involved, of course." Lei smiled and nodded.

I'd never really asked a client to hang out with me before but I knew he wouldn't be back to see me again as a client because there wasn't anything I could do to help him in that respect. Sure, I could just talk to him about his thoughts and feelings but I felt restricted by my profession in this case because I couldn't truly be myself and say what I felt he needed. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy my job, just that I couldn't really help Lei the way I had wanted.

I walked into the bar later that night after going home to change into something less professional and more comfortable. I saw Lei sitting on a barstool, already ordered a drink. He didn't notice me come in and his back was to me. "Lei Wulong, what a pleasant surprise."

He turned to face me, his countenance glowing with a smile at the sight of me. "Doctor Williams, you look lovely." My red, Asian-style dress stood out among the crowd. My heels clicked softly as I approached him.

"Please, call me Anna." As soon as I sat down, the bartender placed a drink before me paid for by another man. I nodded to him in thanks but didn't say a word.

"Of course," Lei smiled.

And we talked, got to know each other. I couldn't pinpoint it but I knew there was something about this man that made me want to trust him. So I told him about the dreams. I didn't mention my sister at all or her profession, just the dreams.

"Interesting," he said, taking another sip. "What do you think they mean?"

"I honestly don't know. Although I'm a psychologist, I've never really been good at psychoanalyzing myself."

"No, I suppose that would be difficult because you do have ties to your own life. Though if you think of it as someone else's, it might help."

"And you think of this even as you're drinking," I laughed.

"Yes, I like to believe that I come up with my best ideas when I'm drunk." He paused for a second and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't think too much on it, Anna. They're just dreams after all."

Yes, they are just dreams, but that doesn't make them stop.


End file.
